Delivering high-quality education for all students in the province of Ontario is at top of priority list for McGuinty government.

On May 15, a crowd consisting of faculty, students and local MP's gathered for a funding announcement held at Fanshawe College.

Khalil Ramal, MPP, together with his colleagues Chris Bentley and Deb Matthews, announced significant new one-time funding for two Ontario post-secondary institutions.

Fanshawe College is set to receive more than $3 million towards their operating budget for the upcoming academic year of 2009/10.

The University of Western Ontario received an additional operating fund worth $6.1 million.

“When McGuinty first got elected education was first on their list…because (education) is extremely important,” said MPP Ramal for Fanshawe-London.

Adding, the number of graduating students has dramatically increased in the thousands just in the past few years, making this funding announcement vital at this point in time.

The funding is part of a one-time $150 million operating fund aimed at improving colleges and universities across the province of Ontario.

Scott Porter, Vice President of Finance and Corporate Services at Fanshawe College said the McGuinty government's commitment was demonstrated with the funding announcement.

In 2008-09 Fanshawe College received almost $77.6 million in their operating grants from the McGuinty government, which calculates an increase of a 60 per cent increase over 2002-03. During the same time frame, Fanshawe received $39.9 million in capital funding.

During the 2008-09 academic year, the University of Western Ontario received $266.4 million in operating grants from the McGuinty government, representing an increase of 63.1 per cent over 2002-03. In that same time period, the University received $94.2 million in capital funding.

During the announcement, Matthews stated just how important it is for post-secondary institutions to be recognized by our government.

Adding, “putting money into our educational system is the smartest thing to do.”

‘Students are the assets of this beautiful province…giving us the ability to compete,” said Ramal in reference to other post-secondary institutions.

Ramal concluded by stating he is confident the money being provided by the McGuinty government will be spent wisely by both institutions come next fiscal year.